HCOM: Humanity Within
by NamThunder
Summary: It wasn't a black hole. It was a wormhole. And now, the Volunteer of XCOM is stuck in an Alternate Universe where the Humans and Aliens swapped their roles and places. As said above, this is an AU. Attention: CANCELLED
1. SAME, BUT DIFFERENT

PROLOGUE - SAME, BUT DIFFERENT

"How the fuck did I ended up like this?"

That was the thought of the Volunteer of XCOM. He was sitting in a chair, naked, and hands cuffed to the table. His name was Dale Garand, a psionic sniper. He remembered about lifting the Ethereal ship away from Earth before it could create a black hole that would suck the entire planet in.

But it wasn't a black hole. He knew that much later.

That was when he gained conscious later, blinking to the world. When he looked up, he found himself somewhat surrounded by all the aliens. Before he could registered anything, he was knocked out cold. And here he was, in an interrogation room.

The door opened, and Dale was met with the sight of an Ethereal. What caught his eyes was that his apparel, a robe with a familiar green color. The green color of Central's sweater. If Dale remembered correctly, the Ethereals wore red, not green.

The Ethereal towered in front of him. He knew it was physically weak, but their psionics was supreme. He was waiting for any psionic attacks, knowing how merciless these things are.

But to his surprise, it asked. "What are you? Why do you have our signature?" And its voice was like Central, only with echoes.

Dale was thinking on how he should deal with this. "I'm Dale Garand" he played it cool. "I'm a Human who you and your kind slaughtered us into-"

"Slaughter?" the Ethereal interrupted. "Human? We've never heard of these Humans until a few days ago, and they launched an invasion on us!"

Now he was dumbstruck. Never heard of? Human invading? What's going on?

"Nevermind that" Dale replied "Now who are you?"

The Ethereal didn't answer. It still demanded the last question. "Why do you have our signature?!"

"I'm telling you nothing until you introduce yourself" Dale looked at the green sweater. There was an insignia on it, somewhat similar… "No, let me guess. You're the central officer of this base"

"That's too true to be a mere guess" The Ethereal spoke "Yes, my name is Central, and that's how I wanted you to call me…"

"Dale" Dale reminded.

"Dale. Now answer me. Why do you have our signature?" the Ethereal glared at him, even though he could not see the eyes due to the mask.

"This signature… you mean psionics? How come you not know?" Dale answered. "It was like your kind of thing here. I mean, you can mind control people, for fuck sake"

"Calm down… Dale!" Central ordered. He made a pause to recall the name

The door opened again, entering two guards. However, these guards shock Dale even more.

First, these guards were respectively a Muton and a Sectoid. They were wearing somewhat XCOM military gears that fit their sizes like a glove.

Second, the firearms in their hands were not plasma weapon. Instead, to his shock, they were using bullets, like how XCOM use it in the first few months.

And third, there were insignias on the apparel as well, but the cap that the Sectoid wore was the largest to see. He took a closer look, and gasped.

It was a logo similar to XCOM's, but this one had the H instead of X.

Slowly, he turned back to the Ethereal. "Central, what is this place?"

"We're in the HCOM headquarter. That stands for Human-Combat unit." Central informed. "We found you just a few hours after the first contact, wondering around the city. We could've kill you, but our radar somewhat picked you as ours. That's why you are being interrogate right now. Any other Human would be shot dead."

Dale grabbed his skull now. "You said the Humans attack?"

"Yes" Central said. "We've been waiting for any signs of contact. Then they began abducting people."

"So your government initiated the HCOM project to defend your kinds against the Humans" Dale followed through. He rubbed his head, his hair fluffed around. "Fuck. It's not a black hole. It's a fucking wormhole"

"Excuse me, what did you say?" Central asked.

"It doesn't matter!" Dale interjected. "I need to see the proof… Can I see a Human corpse? I need to see it if I want to believe all this"

Central was about to say no, but then sighed. "Come with me" He waved and left. Dale followed him, along with the two guards.

* * *

Central and Dale came into the operating theatre. A crowd of scientists in HAZMAT suit of various sorts were gathering around the table when they saw Dale came in. At that, they panicked and one went for the alarm.

"Stand down! He's under my custody" Central commanded. All the scientists froze and slowly resuming their business. He motioned Dale to the table. "Go ahead, Dale. Take a look"

Dale looked at the table, and he saw it. A Human, male, wearing a grey jumpsuit. The cuts bled red blood. Red Human blood. He would've vomit if he hadn't seen his teammates died before.

Opposite of him stood a Sectoid height scientist. "Are you… the head scientist here?"

"Why yes" the figure replied with a female voice. She took off the helmet, revealing a Sectoid with… hair that matched Dr. Vahlen's. "I'm Doctor Vahla. And congratulations. You are the first Humans to see this place alive."

"I'm sure there will be more seeing it alive, doc" Dale replied. His eyes were going places. He remembered how professional Dr. Vahlen could dissect. He sure bet that Dr. Vahla could do well as well. They soon walked into the lab. "And who was the head of the engineering team here?"

"That would be me" said a Seeker Drone, flying into the room. It… he seemed to have an extra len over his optic. "I'm Seeker unit R4-YM0. But you can call me Raymo."

"Raymond Shen…" Dale murmured. He felt like everything was familiar, but all different. Too different. He was hyperventilating, fast and hard.

Still, someone was missing. "Central… where's the Commander?"

"There's the Commander, Dale" Central pointed at the entrance. Entering the door was another Ethereal. This one dressed up so similar to the Uber Ethereal. The only different was the mask's insignia. Instead of the one representing the alien regime, this one was the H symbol. The symbol of HCOM.

This was too much to bear for Dale. Way too much for his mind to take. He then collapsed to the ground with a thunk.

* * *

 **So if you are wondering what this is about...**

 **Well, I was surfing the web looking for XCOM pictures and drawings. Then I found these "HCOM" pics. It sparked my brain, and got me hooked for days writing down a plot**

 **That doesn't mean other stories are abandoned. THey are alive as they are.**

 **Anyway, NamThunder out. Enjoy.**


	2. REALITY

CHAPTER 1 - REALITY

By the time Dale came to, he was lying on a bed in the med bay. He wanted this to be a nightmare. He wanted it to be. He wished he did die on that Ethereal ship. That it was a black hole.

But the truth never followed how you want it to be.

He did not get up. He looked up at the ceiling, and wondered. What had he got himself into?

* * *

Outside the med bay, looking from the window, Central was looking at the Commander with disbelief. "You can't be serious. You wanted him to join our cause?"

"He was clearly shock about the body" Vahla mentioned. "He was clearly not on their side too. I mean, look at his gears he brought when we caught him"

"Yeah, it was a plasma weapon." Central spoke up "The Humans use it all the time."

"But it isn't ordinary, Central" Raymo joined in. "After thorough analysis, the gun is a custom made. A sniper rifle, to be precise."

"Sniper?" Central asked. "But we've not found any snipers yet"

"That's the exact reason why, Central" Raymo explained. "We haven't seen the Humans sending down a sniper. In fact, we haven't seen them deploying a Human alone. In addition, his armor is also… strange"

"Strange? About what?" Central questioned.

Dr. Vahla answered, "The armor was consisted of the element of the Humans, but this was the most intriguing, Central. The fabric of this armor… I hate to say it, but it was made out of an Ethereal's skin"

"Our skins?!" Central raised his voice. "You say he killed one of ours before"

"That is exactly the point, Central. And an odd one rather" Vahla continued. "We haven't seen any Ethereal casualties… yet. But for him to have defeat one would be impossible. The Ethereals were the most guarded by our elites, and are well secured in their shelters. No way he could have taken one down alone"

Central was about to argue, but then remembered something. "Back in the interrogation room, he said about us invading his world."

"Could it be that he came from somewhere else?" Raymo assumed. "Somewhere where we attacked them."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves" Vahla concluded. "But we could ask him about his history, and why he claim we invaded his people. It may be best to keep him as a guest for now. Perhaps we could learn something or two from him."

Dale was then seen walking out of the med bay. Before any words could be spoken, an alarm rang. "UFO detected" said the announcer. Central and the Commander immediately rushed to the mission control room. They did noticed Dale following them. He was put on gunpoint at the moment he stepped into the room, but the Commander instructed them to stand down.

On the holo-glode, there was an image of an unidentified flying object above what Dale could recognize as Africa. Central went on the comms. "Attention Cyberdisk-1. You are clear for launch. You are to intercept the UFO-1 over Afri at all cost" A few minutes later, an image of the said Cyberdisk showed up on screen. It flew after the UFO and eventually reached it. "We have eyes on the bandit"

The feed then popped up, simulating the 'interceptor' shooting down the UFO. A few rockets were needed to take the first one down, and it did.

The whole room cheered, clapping their hands in joy of shooting down the first UFO. However, Dale didn't celebrate. He knew it won't be that easy.

Central and the Commander seemed to notice his idle expression. "What's wrong?" Central asked.

Dale pointed at the screen, showing the crash site. "It's still there"

Both turned to the screen. Among the smoking scene, an UFO remained in the middle of it. "Still in one piece?" Central commented.

"You better send a team there if you really want to finish the job" Dale insisted. "Trust me. I've been there"

Central looked at the Commander, who nodded in acknowledgement and trust. "Alright" he agreed in the end. If the Commander said yes, he followed. "Strike team, gear up and board Big Fly. You're heading to the UFO-1 crash site."

Four soldiers began gearing up. They jogged from the armory in full gear towards the hangar, where an aircraft similar to Big Sky's Skyranger parked. They entered and buckled up. The aircraft lifted off, and left the HQ.

* * *

"Central, this is Big Fly. Strike team is ready to secure the crash site"

"Copy that, Big Fly. Strike team, you are clear to engage" Central acknowledged. The operation is a go.

On the ground, there were three Sectoids and a Muton. The Muton had a heavy machine gun and a rocket launcher, while the Sectoids were armed with standard assault rifles and pistols. Dale could guess that the Muton was the sole survivor on the first mission. He wasn't there, but he heard of it from some veteran operatives. All the Sectoids were just rookies.

"This is it" said the Muton. "Haul your tiny butts and bodies and follow me."

"Yes sir!" the Sectoids shouted in unison.

They began moving toward the site, all marching on two feet. They took cover behind rocks and fallen trees, slowly approaching the wreckage with caution. Each always watched their six.

And then they spotted them. "Target spotted!"

In front of them, two Humans in grey jumpsuit were crouching down. Strapped to their right arm were a gauntlet with a green glow of plasma. They turned around and saw their enemies, and began moving to cover frantically, crawling on all fours.

Dale was watching this with wide eyes. He needed to know this. He needed to see this. "Are those… Humans?"

"Yes they are Human, Dale Garand" Added Dr. Vahla, calling his whole name.

"Unbelievable..." Dale murmured. These Humans crawled just like the Sectoid in his universe.

The Sectoid up front fired a burst of bullets. The recoil it gave cause some bullets to miss. Although it was a hit, it wasn't enough to put the Human down.

The Humans then retaliate. First one seemed to do something, and to Dale's disbelief, a psionic link flew toward the other Human. It then shot a burst of plasma at the Sectoid. Each shot impacted the being, but the armor managed to soak it. The Sectoid growled in pain, before gathering the strength to stand up again.

And to make matter worse, another pair of Humans showed up behind the first pair. The same one moved into cover and prepared for a battle.

The Muton smiled. He pulled out the rocket launcher on his back, and took aim with laughter in his throat. He launched the rocket, and it flew toward the hostiles, and blew everything up into pieces.

At that, Dale plugged his ears. Something is about to happen from the head scientist.

"Commander! You may want to instruct your men to exercise restraints when using explosives. While certainly proven effective, it would destroy the valuable artifacts we can recover for research. Just something to bear in mind"

Ah, typical science lady. It had been a while since Dale heard that.

Now with the current threat dealt with, they proceeded into the spacecraft. All of them gathered behind the door and reload their new clip in, getting ready to breach.

The Muton opened the door. Inside was a crystal of sort, a clear cut shape of a diamond, but it soon emitted light and took shape in form of a figure similar to a Human, although there was no similarity to it other than its anatomy.

"Fuck me…" Dale gasped. His reaction caught everyone's attention "An Outsider!"

"The what?" Vahla asked.

"Grab some cover!" Dale shouted, grabbing the microphone on the console "One shot from that thing could kill you!"

"Hey, get off the microphone!" Central yelled, pushing Dale away from the console.

The team laid fire on the figure, but it was all a miss. It then fired back, hitting another Sectoid with a precise shot. True to Dale's word, the damage was fatal. That Sectoid was a goner, lying lifelessly on the floor.

The injured Sectoid saw that. He was traumatized by the event unfold before him. Adding the injury, he was losing it. "Evac! We gotta get out of here!" he chirped, ran and randomly fired at the figure wildly without a hit.

The Muton held his ground. The not panicking Sectoid began to flank around, sticking to cover as much as possible as the Muton drew attention from the figure.

The figure did fire back at the Muton. It was getting no good shot, and became occupied. It was clueless of the flanking Sectoid aiming at it.

With a clear chance to his, the Sectoid fired. All bullets went their marks. The figure fell and dissipated into nothing, only leave weapon fragments behind.

"Operation successful" Central remarked, calling back the team.

* * *

The aircraft landed. The team lined up, facing Dale, Central, and the Commander. Dale could guess that this was the promotion ceremony.

"Alright" Central looked at the evaluation list. "Muton Corporal Grakk. You are now promoted to sergeant. Congratulations. Now choose your training on either-"

"'Light 'em Up' or 'Holo-Firing'" Dale spoke up instead, causing everyone to look at him. "I would go for the first one if I were you"

The Muton Heavy turned back to Central. "Yeah, what he said"

Central made a tick on the list. "Right..." He moved on to the injured Sectoid. "I'm sorry, Sectoid Rookie Nipp. You're not being promoted." He then got to the last one. "Sectoid Rookie Kalp. You've been promoted to a Corporal. Congratulations. The Commander decided to make you an assault. Your new gears and weapon had been added in your locker. Dismiss"

The team gave a salute, and then left the hangar. Central and the Commander now turned to Dale. "Now how did you know about our training program? Those are classified, and we have never tell you about it"

Dale sighed. This was not the time to tell them. Not yet. "Let's just say I've been through this before" He turned and left the hangar.

As he walked away, he tightened his fists. He had been through a war, and now he had to face the same war again. He wanted this to be a dream. He really did. But it will not, and will never be a dream.

This is his reality now.

And he have to live it.


	3. TRUST

CHAPTER 2 - TRUST

A few days gone by. Nothing much was on the scope other than another abduction event. The Commander provided a separate accommodation for Dale to live in. He feared that let him living with the soldiers would result in an unjustified homicide.

Dale studied about Etherea as much as possible. To his surprised, the planet was like Earth. Afri was Africa. Asi was Asia. Uro was Europe. Even the country's names were close to his. Angland, Maxica, Chinu, Rusi… He needed a break to get it in him.

According to the database in the situation room, the HCOM base was located in Afri. They received a lot more monthly income, at 30% increase. There was one satellite over Niger, and another over Braz in South Ameca. Everything was the same, but different.

He walked around the base, watching various species doing their job. He caught some eyes from them as well.

When he walked into the bar, he knew it was a bad idea.

At the first step in, all of the recruits looked at him with killer eyes. The noises and chatters muted, as if the bar was turned into a graveyard. Sectoids, Floaters, Mutons, snakes like creature he had never seen before, even Chryssalids… All stared dagger at him. It wasn't the first time he saw their killing intent, but this one wasn't one of those.

And since he was in the bar, this will get ugly.

"Hey!" a Muton, a new recruit, came to him with intimidation and towering height. "I thought Humans are not welcome here!"

Dale sighed. A fight was the last thing he wanted. "Fine, I'll be going…"

The exit was blocked by a snake being. "You are clearly Human" she said before delivering a smashing glass bottle to the head. "You fuckers took my son!"

The hit forced Dale onto his knees. He was about to stand up when a kick came into his rear. "You fucker think you can take us on?!" taunted another Muton. "Look at you! Can't even stand up and fight!"

Dale was stomped on in several places. He couldn't count how many or where they landed. His body lied flat to the floor as more physical assault came to him. As a sniper, he had never get hit this close. He was glad that no Chryssalid had joined in.

But then the crowd broke apart "Hey, knock it off!" a Muton stood in the middle. This one was the veteran.

"It's a Human, Grakk!" said the violent Muton. "They kill our people! It deserved to die!"

Grakk walked toward the arguer. "You kill him… I'll tell the Commander that you kill our VIP. You know what happen for insubordination"

The Muton growled. "You're lucky" he spat at Dale before returning to his seat. The mob also followed.

Grakk nodded with a smirk. He turned and lent Dale a hand. "Sorry, those guys are new" he apologized on their behalf. "They just came yesterday, so they didn't know about you. The name's Grakk, but I think you know it already"

Dale rubbed the sore bruises. "Dale"

"Thanks for the warning about the... Outsider, Dale" Grakk said "Thought that bastard was an easy kill. Turns out took a rookie in one shot."

"You're welcome" Dale nodded.

"Say… how did you know about that?" Grakk asked, his mind filled with curiosity. He had a glass of beverage in hand.

"I would like to tell you, but I doubt you would believe me" Dale replied.

"I'll try to sink it in" Grakk insisted, taking one gulp.

Dale turned to him. "I mean, really." he said. "I still planned to tell all this to Central, the docs, and the Commander, but now is not the right time"

"Ah, I see" Grakk nodded. "A Human like you would be hard to find a friendly face here with all the things going down. But just remember this. I'm a friend. You can count on me"

"Thanks, Grakk" Dale smiled. Both the departed, with him leaving the bar.

* * *

The big fours of HCOM were talking again about Dale. The fact that he knew about the Outsider, or how he knew about the UFO remained intact despite the crash, was a question begging for answers.

"I say we should let him come on the next mission" Vahla started. "He could be more of an asset than an informant."

"And compromised the operation?" Central said, still not trust Dale.

"More like a test, Central" Raymo added. "It would be a trust test, and I and Dr. Vahla wanted to see how the Humans would react when they see him. A Human among us, fighting for us"

"Besides, I do have a request." Vahla spoke "I've dissected many of the Humans, but we still knew a little about them. If we can capture…"

"You wanted to take one in alive? Are you crazy?" Central argued. "We don't even have a facility to lock them up"

"Let us worry about that, Central" Raymo replied "The engineers had already start the construction of the specialized holding cell."

"We could know more of what they are, Central" Vahla interjected "So far we know only of what they are from the autopsy, so if we capture one alive, we can…"

"Interrogate it. Find out about their plans" Central concluded "Why they attacked us"

"Exactly, Central" said Vahla. "Raymo had constructed the Arc Slinger. It acted like a tazer, shocking the target with enough voltage to calm a raging Muton down to a coma."

"However, the range of the device is relatively shot." Raymo informed "Its effective range is at 1 metres"

Central looked at the two. "So this would compromised our operative's safety"

"Yes, which is why I suggest to assign Dale Garand to do it" Vahla replied. "Even if he failed, it would proved that he's willing to fight for us."

The three then looked at the Commander. "Well… It's your call, Commander." Central said. "Should we let him do this?"

* * *

The doctors in the infirmary were the second most welcoming people he had met in the HCOM base, aside from the scientists in the lab. Aside that they asked for samples or tests, they agreed to treat his wounds and bruises.

Then came Central and the Commander. Dale could feel the central officer's aura of distrust towards him. But if they came to see him, it must be big.

"I can't believe we're doing this" Central sighed "Dale. Gear up"

* * *

Sitting in the aircraft, being lifted to their target was not something Dale wasn't familiar with. However, the crew nerved him. His team consisted of Grakk, Kalp, and a humanoid snake being. Each were geared up with standard weapons, except for Dale, who was given back all of his gears since the armory didn't have anything that fit him.

The atmosphere was tensed. The snake being kept a firm grip on her pistol, and her slit eyes never left him.

And he thought he had seen those eyes before.

"Xelena, put that gun away" Grakk ordered. "You're making him nervous"

Xelena didn't follow. "I don't trust this thing"

"You either follow my orders, or I'll tell Big Fly to go back so I can get a new rookie" Grakk threatened.

Xelena did put the gun away, but kept her sight locked on to him.

Dale had went through his inventories. He was given the Arc Slinger. He was surprised that it looked like the Arc Thrower, and functioned the same.

And this will be his first time using it. And as a sniper no less.

He remembered the person who was given with it to subdue an alien. The guy claimed it was suicide. To get so close just to zap the enemy was too risky, but it was a success nonetheless.

And now, a long range specialist like him, had to do the same thing. Zapping an enemy at close range, where his sniper rifle was useless.

"Operatives" said Big Fly "LZ in site. Get ready to disembark"


	4. Cancelled

**If you are seeing this, then that means this story had comes to its end. I've truly ran out of fuel, ideas, and motivations to continue the story.**

 **Feel free to adopt it. Just PM me if you want to.**

 **NamThunder signing out.**


End file.
